Romania’s plan to issue Samurai bonds by the middle of this year and later in subsequent rounds is aimed, more than the money the bonds can generate, at bringing the Japanese investors to the local public debt market, stated head of Treasury Stefan Nanu, speaking at a conference on April 9. 

Treasury head Nanu mentioned a first issue in Japanese yens worth around EUR 200 million-300 million, followed by subsequent issues, according to Profit.ro.

He explained that once they start monitoring Romania, the Japanese investors would be interested in buying more Romanian debt including local currency debt issued by the Romanian Treasury on the local market in Bucharest. 

“For us, the Samurai bond is peanuts, it means nothing in terms of financing. But it means a lot bringing in Romania the Japanese investors,” Nanu said.

According to the most recent available data, as of the end of January, non-residents owned RON 84.7 billion (EUR 17 billion) of state securities issued on the domestic market, 25% of the total.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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